The New Toad Sage
by ItachiUchiha17
Summary: Naruto loses the title of Hokage to someone else and the now 25 year old man decides to follow in the footsteps of Jiraiya. These are his adventures. Rated M for safety right now. Probably won't be a pairing but we'll see. No, I haven't forgotten about I Can Fix That Rewrite. Chill out.


**A/N: **This idea popped into my head and I couldn't let it go, so I'm going to run with it. Don't think that I Can Fix That Rewrite (thinking about changing that title) is going to be left to die. In fact, I'm almost done with the next chapter. Back to this story, it's going to be label as M just it case I decide to add some juicy bits. If I find out that I won't, I'll knock it back, but there are few cuss words in this chapter. **You also should know that this story will contain some spoilers if you're not up with the manga.** **You have been warned so don't complain. Your whining no jutsu will be redirected to this Author's Note. **One last note for this newbie, I'm not entirely sure it's going to have a pairing. As much as I would like it to, it might be a good idea to just write something more general without the romance. Let me know what you think about everything if you could. Hope you enjoy it.

**Summary:** Naruto loses the title of Hokage to someone else and the now 25 year old man decides to follow in the footsteps of Jiraiya. These are his adventures. Rated M for safety right now. Probably won't be a pairing but we'll see. No I haven't forgotten about I Can Fix That Rewrite. Chill out.

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Naruto or certain characters would still be alive and well. *sobs and blows nose*

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**Chapter One: A New Direction**

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Eight long years had passed since the end of the Fourth Shinobi War. It had been a hard fought battle where the allied elemental nations overthrew the threat of the Juubi and the Infinite Tsukuyomi. The time after the war was spent rebuilding, honoring all those had been lost in the conflict, and establishing a greater peace between the elemental nations. At the center of all this had been Konoha's number one knuckleheaded ninja, Uzumaki Naruto. The war had caused unfathomable growth and a crushing end to a majority of the naiveté that had been so strong in the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. It was this growth that caused the blond to become an emissary for Konoha, elevate himself to jounin (1) and seal master, and most importantly, become a key piece in rebuilding and bettering the infrastructure of Konoha. The man now looked to have his hard work, determination, and dedication rewarded as he stood in front of all of Konoha waiting for Tsunade to announce who would become the next Hokage.

As he stood on the stage with Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru, and Inuzuka Kiba, he was proud of himself. For as many years that he had fought to be recognized and appreciated by the village, standing on the stage at that very moment let him know that all the blood, sweat, and tears that he had spent had not been for naught. Not even the fact that a former traitor stood among the candidates could pop the bubble of his accomplishment. Sure, he felt come kind of way about the situation, but now was neither the time nor the place to let those thoughts linger. Just as he was pushing those musings away, Tsunade made her way onto the stage to announce the decision that had been made.

"It is with great pride and joy that I announce who will become the next Hokage of Konoha," Tsunade said with fake cheer that no one caught.

Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he listened to the woman recount the prestigious history of the men that had come before her. He smiled as she regaled the crowd with the exploits of his hero and his father, Namikaze Minato.

'I'm almost there, dad. I'm almost there,' the ramen lover thought feeling another swell of pride surface within himself, but he quickly refocused as he heard the Godaime finishing her speech.

"Without further ado, I present to you…Uchiha Sasuke, Rokudaime Hokage," the slug sannin finished to shouts of glee ringing throughout the streets of Konoha.

A mix of emotions ran through the nine tailed fox jinchuuriki at that very minute, but he quickly composed himself as he, Kiba, and Shikamaru congratulated the sharingan user and left the stage. As the Uchiha stepped forward to accept the mantle of Hokage and give a speech, the toad summoner escaped to his home. he would be damned before he listened to the snake summoner accept what should have been his for the taking. Once safely locked into his apartment and and a number of chakra barriers were in place, Naruto allowed his anger to run wild. As no one continued to live in the apartment complex, the seal master all but demolished the building.

"They gave it to a defector?! (2)" the man seethed. "I, who gave my all, my everything to this god forsaken village that treated me like I was the scum of the motherfucking earth, was looked over in favor of a shit sucking, backstabbing, son of a bitch?! I, who was always dedicated to this hell hole from the moment I was born, despite all the bullshit they lobbied my way!

The ramen was greeted with nothing but silence as he punched another hole into a wall. It wasn't until the man started throwing furniture around the apartment again did Kyuubi speak to him.

"_**What are you doing?" Kurama asked.**_

"What does it fucking looking like I'm doing?" the blond answered.

"_**It looks like you're throwing a tantrum, but I fail to understand why. Do you no longer have the desire to continue to find out more about the Uzumaki clan? Do you not still want to continue your work in bettering the ninja world as a whole? Why are you acting like this is the end of your story?"**_

"That's not the point! I could have easily gotten over Shikamaru or Kiba becoming Hokage. Both have the talent and have been just as loyal to the village as I have! The fact that someone who had plans to destroy the village at one point is supposed to be the person who going to lead the village is absolutely ridiculous and you know it!

"_**Regardless of all your growth, you are still as dumb as a newborn to the ways of the world. You were warned of this outcome, so why to do react so violently? Your tantrum will do nothing to change the fact that the Uchiha is the new Hokage. Move forward, Naruto. That's what you've done before. Do it now."**_

"Are you not the demon that pushed me to violently take out my anger on various targets, Kurama?" The seal master growled at the fox.

"_**Are you not the human who has fought to resist my influence all this time? Are you not the human that sought to do more than tame and control me? Are you not the human that has done more to understand me and my motives?"**_

The shadow clone master sighed as he set down the couch he was going to throw out the window. He knew the demon spoke the truth. He calmed himself, started the process of cleaning up the apartment complex, and prepared to leave Konoha once again.

0-0-0-0-0

Hours after the celebration of a new Hokage had ended, Naruto stood at Konoha's main gates with all his belongings that ge sealed into a number of different scrolls and placed into his ninja pack. He looked to see the Hokage monument and sighed sadly. It hurt to see his dream passed to someone he felt was less deserving, but his demon tenant had been correct. He had other things that he could strive for and be just as successful, if not more. This was far from the end of his journey. In fact, it was just a beginning. With those thoughts carrying him forward, the blond turned to leave Konoha.

"Where do you think you're going?" said Tsunade (3), stopping the man in his tracks.

"I put off the projects I had in place for months to return here. I believed that I'd be taking those same projects on as Hokage, but that wasn't to be. So in essence, I'm going back to what I was doing," the seal master said smoothly.

Tsunade moved to slap the toad summoner, but was pulled into a hug.

"I know that you feel like I'm abandoning my dream but you're wrong," Naruto said stepping out of the hug. "There are other things for me do in this world. Asking me to stay after what I aspired to was handed to Sasuke is asking me to become bitter and hateful. Allow me to continue to grow as a person and as a shinobi without a fight. Allow me to be the hero for places outside of Konoha, because they need me more."

The slug sannin was about to protest but the jounin raised his hand to stop her.

"I've been a hero for this village from the day I was born. That's my role, but there is no crisis for me to solve. I'll always be the knight in shining armor, but Konoha isn't a damsel in distress anymore. It's stronger than ever. You said so yourself and you've seen this place at its weakest a number of times. It's time for me to save the rest of the world don't you think?"

"I'm sorry," the blonde woman said finally. "I fought hard for your case and so did several others but it wasn't enough."

"Don't worry about it because that's the funny thing about Konoha and its people. The strongest of us are either deemed to be gods among men or deemed weak or less than because of our moral coil and a strength that others fail to see. I've always been in the latter category, but instead of being disgraced, I'll move on. That's all there is for me to do. So don't think of this as goodbye, baa-chan. You will undoubtedly see me again, but I'll be that much better," Naruto beamed at the woman.

Tsunade sighed as she pulled the man that reminded her of her little brother and her former lover so much into another hug. She did her best to impart how much she cared for the blond through the hug. When she let the man go, she wished him good luck and watched as he slowly disappeared into the distance.

**# Explanations**

1) I would imagine that Naruto would be at ANBU level at this point, but being a jounin allows him the ability necessary to be ambassador and still carry out missions. That's the logic I'm sticking to anyway.

2) I'm noticing a trend in Sasuke taking what "belongs" to Naruto, but that's kinda the nature of the beast. You know that Sakura is in love with Sasuke despite everything. and *SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER * Sasuke has already talked about wanting to become Hokage. The bullshit could happen!

3) I enjoy showing the brotherly/maternal relationship between Tsunade and Naruto. It just works so well in my mind.


End file.
